General Assistance Program
Overview
This assistance program has been designed to help meet the essential needs of food, shelter, and heat. This program is also a secondary resource, meaning in order for a person to qualify they have to apply with all other resources before they apply to the NVOK program. Eligibility will be reviewed monthly or as needed in order for a client to quality for GA services. Clients much also work with TFS team members to develop and sign an Individual Self-Sufficiency Plan (ISP).
Eligibility
- Applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements:
- Applicant must be a member of an Alaska Native or American Indian (AN/AI) Tribe.
- Applicant must not have sufficient income and resources to meet essential needs.
- Applicant must live in the Kotzebue service area.
How to Apply
Please download the forms you require from this page, complete them, and return them to the address below.
- Landlord Shelter Statement PDF (165 KB)
- General Assistance Application (424 KB)
Tribal Family Services Director
Antoinette Edenshaw
(907) 442-5312, Direct
Email: Antoinette Edenshaw
Burial Assistance Program
Overview
The NVOK Burial assistance program is income/need-based and is only available when there are no other resources available to pay the cost of the funeral/burial. Our Tribe provides minimum burial expenses according to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) payment standards, which are established by the Assistant Secretary of the BIA.
Eligibility
- Deceased must be Alaska Native/American Indian who meets the criteria as required by 25 CFR 20.300.
- Income based and deceased must NOT have sufficient resources to be eligible. This includes, but is not limited to SSI, Veterans Death Benefits, Social Security, and donations from other organizations.)
- Deceased must have resided in the service area for at least the last six (6) consecutive months of his/her life.
- Extended family/surviving spouse may apply for deceased.
Determination
- Determination of need will be accomplished on a case-by-case basis using the BIA payment standard.
- Upon determination that the deceased meets the basic eligibility requirements a voucher can be made to pay the following:
- Supplies needed to build/buy a casket
- Transportation of the deceased
- Funeral feast/potlatch
- If the family requests assistance for the funeral feast/potlatch, up to four hundred dollars ($400.00) may be provided (this is not in addition to the payment standard formulation related to the funeral, but is part of the cost.)
- The cost of transporting relatives to and from the community for the funeral is NOT provided with Burial Assistance funds.
Burial Assistance Application PDF (160KB)
Burial Assistance Program Contacts:
Tribal Family Services Director
Antoinette Edenshaw
(907) 442-5312, Direct
Email: Antoinette Edenshaw
Indian Child Welfare Program
Overview
The program’s main function is to provide representation for the tribe in children in need of aid cases that involve tribal members and to ensure that the provisions set forth in the Indian Child Welfare Act are followed by State agencies.
The Indian Child Welfare Act was passed by Congress in 1978. The reason the act was passed was that congress found: (25 USC §1901)…” that there is no resource that is more vital to the continued existence and integrity of Indian tribes than their children and that the United States has a direct interest, as trustee, in protecting Indian children who are members of or are eligible for membership in an Indian tribe; and that an alarmingly high percentage of Indian families are broken up by the removal, often unwarranted, of their children from them by non-tribal public and private agencies and that an alarmingly high percentage of such children are placed in non-Indian foster and adoptive homes and institutions; and that the States, exercising their recognized jurisdiction over Indian child custody proceedings through administrative and judicial bodies, have often failed to recognize the essential tribal relations of Indian people and the cultural and social standards prevailing in Indian communities and families.”…The Indian Child Welfare Program provides services to members of the tribe.
The Indian Child Welfare Act: A Family’s Guide PDF (707 KB)
Tribal Family Services Director
Antoinette Edenshaw
(907) 442-5312, Direct
Email: Antoinette Edenshaw
Emergency Services
Overview
Emergency Assistance Funds are available specifically for homes destroyed due to fire, flood or other destruction rendering a home unlivable and/or damages to personal possessions.
Eligibility
Emergency assistance is applicable to essential needs such as food, clothing, shelter, and utilities. Applicants must be referred by the Red Cross prior to receiving assistance, and other resources should be exhausted before Emergency Assistance is provided. Approved payments will not exceed the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ maximum Emergency Assistance Payment standard of $1,000 per household as established by the Assistant Secretary.
Emergency Assistance Funds cannot be used for transportation, home evictions, etc. Funding should be sought from other sources for circumstances such as mold, bed bugs, etc.
How to Apply
Please download the General Assistance Application (424 KB) and check the “Emergency” box.
Submit your completed application for NVOK Emergency Services via email (preferred) to John.stalker@qira.org; mail to P.O. Box 296 Kotzebue, AK 99752, attn: John Stalker; or deliver in person to the NVOK Tribal office at 600 Fifth Avenue, Kotzebue, AK 99752, P.O. Box 296 Kotzebue, AK 99752. Incomplete applications will not be processed.
Tribal Family Services Director
Antoinette Edenshaw
(907) 442-5312, Direct
Email: Antoinette Edenshaw
